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Pakistan face England in T20I series decider as players celebrate Eidul Azha

The three-match series is levelled at 1-1 with the final match set to be played at Manchester

Pakistan face England in T20I series decider as players celebrate Eidul Azha PHOTO: Reuters

Pakistan will face England in the third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) of the ongoing series at Old Trafford, Manchester today.

The three-match series is levelled at 1-1 with Pakistan winning the first T20I by 31 runs, while England bouncing back in the second match through a 45-run victory.

The Pakistan players will be celebrating Eidul Azha in England, today, and are set to offer prayers, at the hotel, before leaving for the stadium.

The Men in Green will keen on winning today’s match, along with the series, after a humiliating three-nil ODI series whitewash against a second string England side.

Pakistan’s last T20I outing against England at Manchester came in September 2020, when veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez smacked an unbeaten 52-ball 86 against the hosts and led the Men in Green to victory.

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The visitors would be hoping that Hafeez regains his form once again, after struggling for runs in the recent past, especially bearing in mind the fact that the team has become over-reliant on openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

Meanwhile, England are likely to see the return of regular skipper Eoin Morgan who left himself out of the previous game inorder to assess the team’s bench strength.

Likely XI:

England: Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Eoin Morgan (c), Lewis Gregory, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Matt Parkinson, Saqib Mahmood

Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Hafeez, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi